Madeleine Rosca

Not too bad! The idea of a school for (up and coming) mad scientists and the classes they take is interesting. For example, the school prides itself on some cross-species transplantations/Frankenstein experiments and killer robots.

I found the MC too stupidly naive, and it's not in an endearing way. How many times does it take for her to learn this gothic, eldritch school is immune to her tears and whining!?! Still, she's nine, so I get it.

I thought the ending was nice and subverted a few show more things.

SN: The artwork on the cover and the artwork inside is drastically different show less

Not too bad! The idea of a school for (up and coming) mad scientists and the classes they take is interesting. For example, the school prides itself on some cross-species transplantations/Frankenstein experiments and killer robots.

I found the MC too stupidly naive, and it's not in an endearing way. How many times does it take for her to learn this gothic, eldritch school is immune to her tears and whining!?! Still, she's nine, so I get it.

I thought the ending was nice and subverted a few show more things.

SN: The artwork on the cover and the artwork inside is drastically different

2.5 show less

This was an entertaining little volume. Lucy Snow, a nine-year old girl ends up, by pure accident, in a school that trains mad scientists. That right there is a great premise. And she soon finds that if she does not keep up her grades every week, she will be sent to detention. And no kid has ever come back from detention. The art in this manga is pretty good, and there is a strong steampunk element that fans of that subgenre will enjoy. Also, this is a manga for all ages. I enjoyed it for show more the story, but much more so for the art. The look of the characters was very good. So, will Lucy rise up to the occasion? I won't spoil it other than to say she will find that she can be a quick learner. Kids who like the idea of a little gross, monsters and robots, so on will certainly enjoy this. I will definitely seek out the next volume. show less

I was so excited when Tor sent me The Clorkwork Sky for review. The cover is amazeballs, and the premise sounded exciting. It’s the year 1895 and automatons are taking over the jobs of the working class. The working class are up in revolt, but automatons are still being created by Erasmus Croach, the famous creator of London’s steampowered automatons. A riot occurs when the working class protest the unfairness of the automatons taking their jobs. To disperse the crowd, the police send in show more their newest police officer, Sky, an automaton, who has the appearance of a boy. During the riot, Captain Thorne of the police becomes aware that the working class children are vanishing, and he’s troubled by this turn of events.

Watching the riot unfold is Sally Pepper, niece of the famous Erasmus Croach. Sally is forever disobeying the orders of her governess. Her parents have sent her to her Uncle’s home because they can’t control her anymore. Instead of being lady-like, Sally is into machines. Soon, Sally starts to buckle under the rules of her Uncle’s house, and escapes with a Velocipede. Sally finds herself in a underground race, and it’s there that she meets Sky who has been ordered by Captain Thorne and Erasmus to find her and bring her back home.

The Clockwork Sky has an amazing premise where it’s obviously hinted at that Croach is using children to build parts of his automatons which is beyond creepy. I loved the beginning where the scenes starts with a boy dreaming, aching for the conductor of the toy train to take him away, but when the dreaming boy reaches his arms outwards, it betrays him as a robot. So whilst this was a great start to the book, I ended up having some issues with the rest of the story.

In Chapter one and two, at times, it was confusing trying to figure out who the narrative speech belonged to as some of the images were very small. Also, there was some repetitive word usage that lost its effectiveness for me. There were some scenes that I didn’t enjoy, and those were Sally’s back-history. It was predictable with the un-loveable parents and unloving family, so she acts out in a rebellious nature. It seemed weak, and I couldn’t engage with Sally’s character. Sky on the other hand I did enjoy, and most of the scenes featuring him were the strongest. There was a vulnerability about him despite the nature of what he is which challenges everything that automatons are. Sky is obviously tied up in the story of the missing children, and the ending of the story leaves that question in glaring lights.

All in all, The Clockwork Sky is likeable read with Sky as the strong protagonist, but the story was a little stilted, over-repetitive and predictable. I give it a C- show less